A tiny village in Missouri has been named as the country’s centre of population. Plato, Texas County, only has 109 residents, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau it marks the national mean centre of population. The nation’s centre of population has shifted westward and slightly southward in the last decade, according to the government survey.
Plato, Texas County, only has 109 residents, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau it marks the national mean centre of population. The nation’s centre of population has shifted westward and slightly southward in the last decade, according to the government survey. The Census Bureau describes the village as ‘the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all 308,745,538 residents counted in the 2010 Census were of identical weight.’
Once a decade the bureau marks a point on the map that it calls the national mean centre of population. The point has maintained a steady westward movement since it first started in 1790 in Kent County, Maryland. The bureau said the change has come as population has gravitated away from older, colder cities to the southwest, where looser regulations have made it easier to build more housing.
As people have moved westward, the centre has crept after them, travelling 872.9 miles from Kent County to its current point.
Interesting flash animation of the drift on thsi page..
(Together) We will go our way
(Together) We will leave someday
(Together) Your hand in my hands
(Together) We will make our plans
(Together) We will fly so high
(Together) Tell all our friends goodbye
(Together) We will start life new
(Together) This is what we'll do
(Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) In the open air
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do
(Go West, this is what we're gonna do, Go West)
(Together) We will love the beach
(Together) We will learn and teach
(Together) Change our pace of life
(Together) We will work and strive
(I love you) I know you love me
(I want you) How could I disagree?
(So that's why) I make no protest
(When you say) You will do the rest
(Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) In the open air
(Go West) Baby you and me
(Go West) This is our destiny (Aah)
(Go West) Sun in wintertime
(Go West) We will do just fine
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) this is what we're gonna do
There where the air is free
We'll be (We'll be) what we want to be (Aah aah aah aah)
Now if we make a stand (Aah)
We'll find (We'll find) our promised land (Aah)
(I know that) There are many ways
(To live there) In the sun or shade
(Together) We will find a place
(To settle) Where there's so much space
(Without rush) And the pace back east
(The hustling) Rustling just to feed
(I know I'm) Ready to leave too
(So that's what) We are gonna do
(What we're gonna do is
Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) There in the open air
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do
(Life is peaceful there)
Go West (In the open air)
Go West (Baby, you and me)
Go West (This is our destiny)
Come on, come on, come on, come on
(Go West) Sun in wintertime
(Go West) We will feel just fine
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do
(Come on, come on, come on)
(Go West)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Gimme a feelin')
(Gimme a feelin')
(Go West)
(Gimme a feelin')
(Gimme a feelin')
(Go West)
(Gimme a feelin')
(Gimme a feelin')
(Together) We will leave someday
(Together) Your hand in my hands
(Together) We will make our plans
(Together) We will fly so high
(Together) Tell all our friends goodbye
(Together) We will start life new
(Together) This is what we'll do
(Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) In the open air
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do
(Go West, this is what we're gonna do, Go West)
(Together) We will love the beach
(Together) We will learn and teach
(Together) Change our pace of life
(Together) We will work and strive
(I love you) I know you love me
(I want you) How could I disagree?
(So that's why) I make no protest
(When you say) You will do the rest
(Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) In the open air
(Go West) Baby you and me
(Go West) This is our destiny (Aah)
(Go West) Sun in wintertime
(Go West) We will do just fine
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) this is what we're gonna do
There where the air is free
We'll be (We'll be) what we want to be (Aah aah aah aah)
Now if we make a stand (Aah)
We'll find (We'll find) our promised land (Aah)
(I know that) There are many ways
(To live there) In the sun or shade
(Together) We will find a place
(To settle) Where there's so much space
(Without rush) And the pace back east
(The hustling) Rustling just to feed
(I know I'm) Ready to leave too
(So that's what) We are gonna do
(What we're gonna do is
Go West) Life is peaceful there
(Go West) There in the open air
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do
(Life is peaceful there)
Go West (In the open air)
Go West (Baby, you and me)
Go West (This is our destiny)
Come on, come on, come on, come on
(Go West) Sun in wintertime
(Go West) We will feel just fine
(Go West) Where the skies are blue
(Go West) This is what we're gonna do
(Come on, come on, come on)
(Go West)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Go West)
(Go, ooh, go, yeah)
(Gimme a feelin')
(Gimme a feelin')
(Go West)
(Gimme a feelin')
(Gimme a feelin')
(Go West)
(Gimme a feelin')
(Gimme a feelin')
